Why do dogs sniff everything? Because they can smell everything – or at least so much more than we can. Dogs can pick up scents from 40 feet underground — more than the height of a house! Dogs can also tell how old a smell is, and can sense when the smell in a room starts changing. Human noses have about 5 million “receptors,” while dog noses have more than 220 million!
Wee ones: If you, your friend and your dog go for a walk, how may noses do you have all together?
Little kids: If a dog can smell down to 40 feet below ground, and you’re in a tunnel 30 feet below ground, can the dog smell you? Bonus: How many more feet down could you dig and still be smellable by that dog?
Big kids: If there are 4 noses in the room, but twice as many dog legs as people legs, how many dogs and people are in the room? Bonus: If you have 5 million scent receptors in your nose, and a puppy has 60 million, how many times as many does the puppy have compared to you?
Answers:
Wee ones: 3 noses.
Little kids: Yes! You’re less than 40 feet below. Bonus: 10 more feet.
Big kids: 2 dogs, 2 people. A dog by itself has twice as many legs as a person, so there are equal numbers of dogs and people. So we split 4 in half. Bonus: 12 times as many.
